Michael Lai, MD
Retina Specialist · Chevy Chase, MDNPI 1962432260
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (37.8%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 18 manufacturers reported payments, led by Genentech, Inc. at 36.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $5,880 and has fallen 72.4% since, to $1,625 in 2025.
Across 100 payments — averaging $130.67 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Genentech, Inc.$5K
- Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$3K
- Eyepoint US, Inc.$2K
- Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$842
- Genentech USA, Inc.$721
- AbbVie$409
- plus $1K from 12 others
Across 172 payments — averaging $9125.46 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Genentech, Inc.$1.5M
- Ocular Therapeutix, Inc.$23K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$4,93638%
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,89214%
- Travel & lodging$2,23117%
- Food & beverage$3,97330%
- Education$340%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Genentech, Inc. | 5 | $4,734 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 8 | $3,204 |
| Eyepoint US, Inc. | 10 | $2,118 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 18 | $842 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 18 | $721 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 16 | $409 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 7 | $241 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 3 | $132 |
| Sight Sciences, Inc. | 1 | $104 |
| Oyster Point Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $95 |
| Spark Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $92 |
| Aerin Medical Inc. | 1 | $91 |
| Novartis | 4 | $88 |
| Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc. | 2 | $65 |
| Abbott | 2 | $41 |
| Amgen | 1 | $34 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Sandoz | 1 | $26 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
How this compares
$13,067 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 47 retina specialist providers in Maryland.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| ProlensaBromfenac Sodium | 13 | $4,894 |
| LumiganBimatoprost | 12 | $3,395 |
| Prednisolone Acetate | 50 | $2,702 |
| Ketorolac Tromethamine | 44 | $1,012 |
| Latanoprost | 21 | $345 |
| Ofloxacin | 25 | $339 |
| ErythromycinErythromycin Base | 21 | $229 |
| Dorzolamide-TimololDorzolamide Hcl/Timolol Maleat | 14 | $225 |
| Dorzolamide Hcl | 13 | $205 |
| Timolol Maleate | 18 | $152 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieLumigan | $409 | $3,39512 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 80th percentile of 47 retina specialist providers in Maryland.
Other retina specialist in Chevy Chase
- Brian DoChevy Chase$116K
- Richard GarfinkelChevy Chase$5K
- Gayatri ReillyChevy Chase$2K
- Daniel BerinsteinChevy Chase$1K
- Rohit LakhanpalOwings Mills$168K
- Adam GerstenblithHagerstown$107K
- Aziz KhanifarSilver Spring$83K
- Michael ElmanBaltimore$27K
- Reginald SandersGreenbelt$24K
- Sidney SchechetBaltimore$23K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.